In the on deck circle...

Tonight, the Subway Series begins! Mets vs. Yankees at Shea Stadium, 7pm - woo hoo! I'm very excited, but it's only fun if the Mets win, so please please please, oh Gods of Baseball, let the Mets win! Last year, they swept the Yanks for the first time ever, and I think I went to all three games and that was SO much fun to witnesss...it's a little rainy right now, so I'm also hopeful that the Weather Gods cooperate...
Tomorrow, I'll be watching Mr. James Thomas Stanley in the morning and then Frinee and I are taking him to Central Park for the day....and the rest of the weekend will be spent resting and getting ready for my trip next week to Disney World with Cindy...work has been crazy lately and very stressful, so I need to be ready for my 4 days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/resorts/resortLanding?id=AnimalKingdomLodgeResortLandingPage&bhcp=1 )...we will be going on safari, plus doing to all the usual Disney stuff - Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Epcot Center...and we have a savannah view room, which means that giraffes and other animals will be frolicking right outside our balcony! I also can't wait to see Cindy, she and I have been great friends since our first week at Barnard together (we bonded over sitting in my dorm room windows watching people come out of the subway stop below) and I miss laughing and spending time with her...so, one week and counting!

Walking Over the Brooklyn Bridge at Dusk...

This was taken last Friday evening when I met Tiffany and Mark for a crappy margarita while we waited for Lucia to meet us...then we walked over the Bridge to Grimaldi's, had OUTRAGEOUSLY great pizza and beer, then walked over to a bar in Brooklyn Heights for a lukewarm Irish coffee...tonight, luck was not with us in the cocktail category...Lucia and I sipped ours while Tiff downed hers like a shot, ordered a second one and drank that just as fast, earning her the new nickname of Quick Draw... Saturday was beauty rituals and poker; got my hair cut and highlighted (see previous pics) and then met Shirley, Mark, and Tiff (again!) in Astoria for pizza (again) a nice long walk and then to poker at Evan's, where I actually won a round - it's 10 bucks to play, I left with 6.35...not bad for only my second poker night, right?

these are the new shoes I bought (20$) at a street fair in Brooklyn on Sunday...I had to take a picture to share with you since I LOVE them...they make me think genies would wear them...they also remind me of these Xmas ornaments my Aunt Marge made (which we still hang up every year) which were lovely, full of beads and sequins but a wee bit gaudy...so here's to Aunt Marge, I'll think of her every time I wear these... 

blonde and sullen..not really, I was trying to figure out how to take a picture of myself so I'm holding a mirror in one hand to help focus and a camera in the other.. 

Well I'm now blonde..sort of...these aren't the best pics to see how it really looks, but you get the idea...I had my highlights done on Saturday and I told Isabel the Colorist "Let's go bolder for summer" and bolder it is! It took me a few days to get used to how light it is, but now I love it..now that I am blonde, I giggle and sigh a lot and I do feel dumber...so strange, right, what a little bleach will do... :-) 

My New Hero, Sen. Barbara Boxer

Why is she my new hero? Because she is single-handedly the only political figure who dares to truly stand up for what she believes in - even when she stands alone (which is often). She is someone who dares to question authority, the only Senator who held Condolezza Rice accountable for the culture of fear she and the Bush Regime have helped to create, one of the few senators who dared to speak out against the privatization of Social Security, and currently is leading the fight to stop John Bolton from heading to the UN, a man Jude Wanniski (former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal) has termed " a true force of darkness". She is a woman who stands firm in the courage of her convictions and for that, I thank her - she keeps my faith alive.

"What I do believe in is keeping promises to the people... I told them election night - and I didn't know how prophetic this was - that if I had to stand alone, I will do it. I am not afraid." - Barbara Boxer 2004

http://presidentboxer.blogspot.com/
http://boxer.senate.gov/
https://www.changethecongress.com/

Une Bonne Anniversaire to P.Hilly!!

May 12th was Mr. Philip's birthday...it was a beautiful May day, so we walked along the park after work and then head off to see David Rabe's play "Hurlyburly" with Ethan Hawke,
(http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/02/08/theater_review_hurlyburly.php) who was excellent as Eddie (although P. and I agreed Sean Penn was much better in the movie version)...the play was awesome, so well done in every way...afterwards, we were hungry (well I was starving after not eating for most of the day), so we shared a panini and birthday brownie in Times Square...it was a lovely evening and as the NPR ladies would have said (mildly and without too much emotion) "Good times...good times..." So happy happy birthday wishes to Dear Philip, who is cool boy I'm happy to know...
Tonight I am walking across the Brooklyn Bridge after work to meet some friends for pizza at one of the world's best pizza places, Grimaldi's - YUMMY! And then tomorrow, it's time for a haircut and highlighting (my grays are showing - also, I am meeting an old college friend in Disneyworld in two weeks and I want to look good for her - I haven't seen her since 1998!! Yep, Cindy, I want to look "hot" for you!!) and then it's poker night at Evan the Poker King's apartment.

Cupcake!!!! 

Cherry Tree Esplanade 

Easter eggs or tulips? 

The proud parents to be...Mitzi and Billy and Baby Boy???
 

From Mitzi and Billy's baby shower on Saturday...lots of good food and drinks and laughing were had by all! 

Basquiat, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, White Horse and Dylan Thomas, and finally, a cupcake...

So Sunday was a good day, I met Megan at the Brooklyn Museum to see the Jean-Michel Basquiat (http://www.basquiat.net/) retrospective, which was supercool, I'm amazed by his paintings, they are so crazy and weird and facinating, I wanted to buy the catalog (I should have, now that I think about it) just because there is so much going on in his paintings and to really examine it all, you have to stare at each piece for hours and hours...he's truly amazing...then we headed out to the Botanical Garden to see some of the flora and fauna in its springtime bloom...it's actually a little too early, only the tulips and the cherry trees and lilacs are in full bloom right now, but it was beautiful nonetheless. As we walked along the Cherry Tree Esplanade, it was so windy out, all the cherry blossoms were falling and they looked like pink and white snowflakes falling...a lovely effect, kind of like this really beautiful scene in Kurosawa's Dreams where the tree deities come to life (but I think those were peach trees)...I love that name by the way, Cherry Tree Esplanade...there is also a Bluebell Wood...I told Megan I think I like those names so much because they make it sound like you are walking through Candyland or a fairy tale...
We were starving by this point and decided to go to the White Horse Tavern, Dylan Thomas' favorite spot, (http://www.pbs.org/hollywoodpresents/collectedstories/writing/write_greenwich_1.html)
where he had his famous last drink (supposed last words: "I've had 18 straight whiskeys. I think that's the record.")...legend has it his ghost still haunts the premises, sitting down at his favorite table for a drink and a cigarette...Mr. Thomas was not spotted, but a yucky old purple-faced drunk was - he was tossed out after lighting a cigarette and then insulting the staff and their mothers (on Mother's Day, no less) in a vulgar fashion...amusing, yes?
So then we went on a quest for cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, mind you. AMY SEDARIS CUPCAKES. Many of you probably don't know how much I LOVE Amy Sedaris (http://amysedaris.com/), I get such a kick out of her...I loved the show Strangers With Candy, but I mostly like her for being her, like when she is a guest on David Letterman...weird, kooky, hysterical..very fine qualities! So Amy loves to bake, and bakes cupcakes on a daily basis and decided to make some money off of this habit and every day, she brings her fresh cupcakes to Joe's ( http://www.joetheartofcoffee.com/ ) and I want to be able to say that I have had one of her cupcakes. Alas, we arrive at Joe's to find it closed for the night. Yet the hankering for a cupcake remains...what to do? "Off to Magnolia Bakery" I exclaim, and we headed back to Bleeker Street where a too-sugary-too-much-frosting type of cupcake just like Mom used to make and a coffee were enjoyed immensely on a bench across the street, next to one of my favorite bookstores - I say favorite because the last time I was there, a cutie bookish type guy worked there and I need to go back there and hang out and see if he has any more good books to recommend to me...

Happy Mother's Day to the JuiceMonster!!!

I love you very much and I'll call you later...keep looking at the sky for "odd-shaped" clouds and remember these messages:

the fat man walks alone...
the chair is against the wall...
and the clock strikes 13...

a beautiful cherry tree, one of my favorite things about springtime in NYC... 

A much needed day off...

Sorry all, for the lack of comments on this dear blog, I have been:

a. Very busy and stressed out at work with no time to do anything for myself...my boss was out for a week and I had a lot to handle...life has been a little too much too handle since I came back from vacation earlier in April. Plus,

b. I've been sick for the past week and a half, the same stupid respiratory infection that I had in March...it was just tricking me into believing I was cured...cough cough...don't you all feel sorry for me? I want my mommy to make me a grilled cheese sandwich and hot cocoa and chicken noodle soup...or at least biscuits and water (ha ha, inside joke between me and Juicy Mama).

So my boss came back on Monday and I called in sick on Tuesday to recuperate. I slept in late and rested but then I had to go to a dentist appointment at 2...I love my dentist, she is this German woman who always has candles lit and flowers everywhere and she serves you tea if you want it and she's really into natural medicine and being healthy so she always has little tips for me - green tea, soy milk, stay away from over the counter medications, etc...her office is on 61st and Lexington, so after leaving her office, despite feeling not so well, it was too pretty a day so I bought a book at Borders down the block and walked over to Central Park and read and sat and peoplewatched for a while. I sat on a bench in front of the pond you see in the picture... everything's green now and the cherry trees and peonies are blooming and the tulips and daffodils are out too so it's so lovely and peaceful.

So all in all, I feel better...still coughing and a little weak, but well enough to go out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo tonight...no more than 2 margaritas though...I shall not get drunk!! What's up for this weekend, you ask? On Saturday, I'm going to a baby shower for my friend Mitzi, kind of all day sort of party, and then Sunday, I may have to work, but after seeing the park on Tuesday, I would love to go up to the Bronx Botanical Garden and walk around while everything is starting to bloom...last year, we didn't really get a spring and I want to really enjoy it this year...because that's what it's all about, isn't it, appreciating every moment as it happens? I think so...

Look at the pretty elephant...and look at the pretty elephant poop! (this is a sculpture at the entrance to Central Park..I just thought it was goofy)